照顧長者的責任在我國主要由家庭承擔，傳統以來，家庭作為滿足人們基本生理與心理需求的重要社會制度，其延續有賴成員互助共生共榮。1930年民法的立法者以孝道及家庭互助傳統的精神轉化為個人之間的扶養義務，建立了一個以血緣和婚姻為連結的家庭，使其成為在經濟上和照顧責任上互助自立的法律單元。隨著少子化、高齡化及家庭結構的轉變，對於長者照顧負擔加重，傳統孝道觀念也受到挑戰。2010年民法親屬編扶養規定進行修正，增訂子女免除扶養義務的規定，引發大量高齡父母與成年子女之間的訴訟，也意味著國家與家庭照顧責任的分配以及長者照顧與福利政策的變化。本文探討我國父母扶養制度的發展，尤其著重於國家與家庭間關於長者照顧責任的互動與關聯。有鑒於社會變遷與法制的發展，互助自立家庭的觀念及規定面臨嚴峻的挑戰，本文建議反思國家與家庭之間照顧責任的分工，使我國長者能夠享有充分的照顧、支持與尊嚴。

In Taiwan, elder care is first and foremost a family responsibility. The family has been an important social institution for meeting basic needs of family members, where the duty of mutual support ensures collective survival and prosperity. In the Family Code, legislators transformed such traditional practice into individual obligations/rights and incorporated filial piety into legal provisions, creating the legal interdependent family, a self-sufficient economic unit bonded by blood and marriage. As Taiwanese population fast aging and fewer family members are available to bear maintenance burden, traditional family values and the concept of filial piety are being challenged. The 2010 amendment to the Family Code, allowing some adult children to exempt from their parental support obligations, has opened the floodgates of litigation between elderly parents and their estranged children. It suggests changes in the distribution of elder care between the state and families as well as the shifts in welfare policies. This article discusses the development, enforcement and impact of Taiwan’s parent maintenance law, focusing on how the social change challenges the legalization of the interdependent family. The author urges to reconsider the construction of the legalized family and the relationship between family and state responsibility in order to protect the elderly’s wellbeing and dignity.